Fiber container with improved tearing strip



Aug. 26, 1952 G. E. ECKMAN FIBER CONTAINER WITH IMPROVED TEARING STRIPFiled Oct. 20, 194'? INVENTO'R ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 26, 1952 UNITEDSm Es; m w

FIBER CONTAINER wi'rH VIMPROVED srnm George" E. Eokm'an, 'Oradell, N;J., assigr'ior' to" American Can Cmpany,'"New York N. Y., a. corporationofiNew Jersey; i r.

Application October 20, 1947 ,-Serial 780,824

The present invention relates to containers having a body made offibrous material for a variety of products including frozen foodprodnets and the like and has particular/reference toan improvedconstruction of tearing strip which facilitates opening the containerforre moval of its product.

An object of the inventionis the provision of a container having afibrebody equipped with. a tearing strip wherein the tearing strip is definedby score lines arranged in an an proved and novel'manner' on 'both sidesof the material of the body to facilitate splitting of the materialbetween the score lines when the tear- Another object is theprovision'ofsuch a coning strip is removed to open the container;

scoreline, theslit being so small that it prevents escape of thecontentsof the container dufirlgv m val of the tearing strip.

body near an end' thereof, which strip is defined by two spaced parallelscore lines cut into one surface of the body wall throu'ghhalf thethickness thereof and which score linesare cooperatively assisted by atleast one score line out into the opposite surface of the fibrewall andin spaced relation to said parallel score lines, so thatthe end portionof the container is severed by re-. moval of said strip. Numerous otherobjects andfadvantages of the invention will be apparent as it is betterunderstood from the following description, which, v

taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferredembodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tearing strip container embodyingthe instant invention, with parts broken away;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective View of a detailed portion of thecontainer illustrated in Fig. 1 and showing the removal of the tearingstrip;

Figs. 3 and 4 are enlarged sectional views taken I 1 Claim. 01.22941) sr Q Still another object of the invention '15 the provision. of atearing strip in a'fibre container 1. I; substantiallyalong' theandshowing the wall of the container before after removal of the tearingstrip;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig.- 2, and showing a a modifiediormof theinvention; and

Figs; 6 and '7 areviewssimflarto Figsx3 and 4;" the "views" being takensubstantially along the lines c -s';' 1-1 mer 5. a

As a preferred embodiment of the instant invention Figs. 1, 2, 3 e ds"of the drawings illusj trat'e a rectangular shaped container for frozen"foodjproductsand the like, the container cojmprisingiatubularbody I I'(Fig. 1); made of suitable paper boardsuch'as sulphate. or-sulphiteboards, or combinationsofthesefwith ground wood pulp, and s'heetmetalend members ,I Zfper manentlyfsecu'redto thefbody by suitable end seams13. The body jpreferably is made from a single flat blank, folde'd'toprovide four'sidewalls and rounded corners, themarginal edge" portionsof thefblank .being overlapped and permanently united" by a. suitableadhesive to form a lapped side seam 14;?" I

Ini iise, one end rriember l2 is secured to the body 1 I and theresulting'container is then' filled' with the product; Aftenfilling, thecontainer is sealedby the attachment of its other end member 12 and, thesealed container is then' passed through a contents. 3 l

Opening of the container to releaseits contents is effected by animproved removabletearing strip H which is formed in thelbody H andfreezing DlQcess to freeze its "which extends completely therearound,preferably adjacent one ofthe end members l2 and terminating inatonguel8 disposed'adjacent the body ,sideseam M. This tongue is set off in thebody by a pair of spaced V-shapednotches l9-which are .cut from thebody? in the outer lapped'portion of the side-1 scam," the portionbetween the notches constituting the tongue.

The. tearing strip llof the body II is defined by-r'a pair of" spacedand parallelscore linesor weakened areas?! which are cut or "otherwiseformedin theou'ter surface of the body and" which extend into thevmate'rlahoi*the body for 'substantially -one"'half ofthe thicknesslofthe body wall, as best shown in Fig. 3. These score lines or weakenedareas terminate preferably at the vertices of the notches l9 which setoff the tongue [8 (see Fig. 1). On the opposite or inner surface of thebody wall, the body I I is formed with a single score line or weakenedarea 23 which preferably is spaced midway between the two outer scorelines 2| (see Figs.

lines 3 3, 4 :4 inr'igra nd j 3 2 and 3) and which extends completelyaround the body and longitudinally of the tongue 18 to its outer edge inparallelism with the score lines 2|. This inner score line or weakenedarea 23 is cut or otherwise formed in the inner surface of the body andextends into the material of the body for substantially one half of thethickness of the body wall. 3

Thus the tearing strip [1 is fully defined as to lateral dimension anddepth by the three score lines or weakened areas 21, 23 disposed inopposite sides of the wall of the body. Hence when the tongue 18 ispulled outwardly in the usual manner to open the container, the materialof the body splits or separates or tears along an area of cleavage whichfollows a plane parallel with the surfaces of the body wall and joiningthe bottoms of the score lines or weakened areas as best shown in Figs.2 and 4, the line of tear extending from the bottoms of the score lines21 toward and into the bottom of the score line 23, the removed tearingstrip. being substantially one half the thickness of the body wall.

With the removal of this improved tearing strip ll, the wall of the bodyII is completely severed or cut through, the body being divided into twoparts by a thin or narrow slit 25 (Fig. 4) which is the remains of. theinner score line or weakened area 23 and which is so small that noappreciable amount of the contents of the container can escape.Thusduring the removal of the tearing strip, the contents of thecontainer are prevented from escape and are held intact until thetearing strip is completely removed and the two parts of the bodymanually separated to release the contents for use. This feature is ofimportancewhen the contents of an incompletely thawed frozen product maycontain juices which may partially escape during the opening of thecontainer.

In the modified form'of the invention, as disclosed in Figs. 5, 6 and 7,the tearing strip. is defined by a pair of spaced and parallel outerscore lines or weakened areas 3| and a pair of spaced and parallel innerscore lines or weakened areas 32. The outer score lines 31 are cut orotherwise formed in the outer surface of the body 'II and extend'intothe material of the body for substantially onehalf of' the thickness ofthe body wall as best shown in Fig. 6. These score lines terminatepreferably at the vertices of the notches I9 which set off the tonguel8.

In a similar manner, the inner score lines or weakened areas 32 are cutor otherwise formed in the opposite or inner surface of the body II andextend into the material of the body for substantially one half itsthickness. These inner score lines are located between the two outerscore lines as best shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and extend completely aroundthe body and longitudinally of the tongue l8 to its outer edge. inparallelism with the outer score lines 3|.

Hence when the tongue [8 is pulled outwardly in the usual manner, toopen'the container, the material of the body splits or separates ortears along an area of cleavage which follows a plane parallel with thesurfaces of the body wall at a place substantially midway of itsthickness,

from the bottoms of the outer score lines 3| toward and into the bottomsof the score lines 32. Thus the body is severed or completely dividedinto two parts upon complete removal of the tearing strip as shown inFig. 7. In this modified form of the invention a stepped tearing stripis produced, a portion of the removed strip having a thickness equal tothe full thickness of the body wall and a portion having a thickness ofsubstantially one half of that of the body wall. Such a tearing stripprovides a gap 33 (Fig. 7) between the two divided body portions of theopened container, this gap being substantially greater than the slit ofthe preferred formand having some advantages for certain food productswhich are packed in containers of this type.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing description, and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the formhereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof. 7

I claim: a

A container for frozen foods and the like, comprising in combination atubular body having a wall of fibrous material, a tongue formed in saidand having a depth substantially half the thickness of the bodywallfsaid score lines extending around said body, a pulling awayof saidtearing strip causing the body material to split along an area ofcleavage between said outer parallel score lines thus leaving a thininner wall por- 1 tion cut by said single cooperating score lineforholding-the contents of the container intact until the tearing strip iscompletely removed and the two parts of the container are manually""separated along said cooperating score line to Number Name Date2,275,896 Geist 'Mar. 10, 1942 2,401,417 Engle June 4, 1946 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date-- 116,955 Australia May 5, 1943 470,316Great Britain Aug. 12, 1937 release the contents.

' GEORGE E. ECKMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNI'IED STATES PATENTS

